


Horizon

by notmyyacht



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Pirate, First Kiss, M/M, Merman Hux, Pirates, Romance, Soft Kylux, merman au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22983268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notmyyacht/pseuds/notmyyacht
Summary: From a young age, Armitage Hux had been taught that humans were dangerous and he should keep away from them at all times. And then he met Captain Kylo Ren.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know where my sudden love of merman!Hux came from, but as soon as it got its hooks into me (no pun intended) I had to write something for it! I have thought about writing a darker take on the AU, but I haven't written anything for it yet. If anybody's interested, let me know! =D 
> 
> A BIG THANK YOU TO DownToTheSea for being my beta for this, especially so last minute!!! Love ya! <3
> 
> This is my first time writing and posting kylux/Star Wars fic so please be kind <3 Hope you enjoy it!

It was so different than anything Armitage could have imagined. And _oh_ , he had imagined. 

He had imagined that every nasty thing his father had ever said about humans was true. Monsters that kidnapped merfolk in horrible nets, and if a merperson was lucky, they'd be dead from the large hooks humans would stick into them to subdue them. Either way, if a merperson was caught, they were sure to be on a human’s dinner plate by evening. Humans were the creatures of nightmares for merfolk. 

Armitage had lived most of his life believing such stories. And then came the ship. The ship that carried 50 souls. Pirates. The worst of the worst humanity had to offer.

All Armitage had done was save their foolish captain’s life from the sea during a battle. And their captain was a fool. He still wasn’t sure _why_ exactly he had saved the man’s life. Perhaps it was because he admired the way Captain Ren had fought with the other pirate ship. Ren was aggressive with his tactics, but effective. There was a beauty to the way he handled himself in a sword fight. 

Armitage had a secret fascination with humans who waged war on the ocean. If a human could not swim, then falling overboard was not an option; in a battle like that, there was nowhere to run. Humans must be masochists, he had thought. 

And that’s when Captain Ren had fallen overboard. Armitage had heard his title and knew if this man drowned, the battle was over. He could have let it end right there. But he didn’t. He saved Ren and Ren’s crew won the day.

Most times he couldn’t stand the man. Ren was reckless in his actions and acted without thinking. He heard personal criticisms and threw them back with sarcasm. It was rather infuriating at times.

But on the outside, as a leader of the lowest type of humans, Ren presented as something else as well: the embodiment of everything Armitage had come to know about humans. And yet whenever they weren’t bickering about what atrocities mankind did or did not actually commit (apparently humans did not eat merfolk, to Armitage’s disbelief), Ren was surprisingly charming, if not childish at times. Though smug about it, he gladly answered any questions Armitage had about the world of humans and the land, no matter how trivial. They both enjoyed the calm of the sea and the smell of the saltwater. 

Despite the bickering, the friction there at times, they had too much in common for there to be any hate. Ren loved the sea, and was enchanted by the very idea of Armitage’s existence. Armitage found the inverted myth of the human fascinating. Within the space they existed, an unspoken respect lingered between them.

If not for the amity bubbling up under his preconceived notions, Armitage would not be following the ship day after day. He would not regularly engage with the pirates who seemed all too happy to see him. He would not splash his black and bright orange tail at them when told a crude mermaid joke, only to lightly chuckle to himself and shake his head. He would not be unofficially part of the crew. Or unofficially the captain’s friend. 

He would not and _should not_. 

It was forbidden for merfolk to be this close to humans. They were dangerous, and willingly exposing themselves to them exposed their entire world. If one human knew the merfolk were more than legend, then all knew it. 

That was the law the merman, Brendol, had burned into his bastard son at a young age, and it was expected by all merfolk to be upheld. But Armitage hated his father and humans were different than anything he could have possibly expected. Were they dangerous and a threat to their people? Yes. But they were also people. People who killed animals to survive, just as merfolk. People who sang and laughed, just as merfolk did. 

The more Armitage spent time with the humans, the less he cared for his old life. And so he followed the pirates further and further away from the underwater cities of the merfolk. 

“He’ll come looking for me soon, if he hasn’t already,” said Armitage, looking out at the setting horizon. “I’m his only son, which means I’m the only one to carry on our lineage; blood ties are important to our culture. Even if he wanted to get rid of me, he couldn’t just let me go.” He sat with his back to a rock next to Ren, who lay comfortably in the sand. The crew celebrated their most recent victory farther down the beach where they could only be made out to be moving, dancing figures around a growing bonfire. 

“What are you going to do?” asked Ren, turning his head to look up at him.

Armitage knitted his brow.

“I do not wish to go back. There’s nothing there for me,” he said.

“Then stay with us. Everybody already considers you part of the crew.”

“Do they?” _Do you?_ He did not ask, but the question was there.

Ren sat up, reaching an arm back to brush off the sand that clung to his shirt. His shoulder bumped with Armitage’s. 

“Aye, they do. We’re heading south towards warmer waters. You’ll like it.” 

Armitage finally turned to look at him and his breath almost caught in his throat. The setting sun kissed Ren’s skin, warming his brown eyes and highlighting his hair like a halo. This was all so foolish and impulsive. But it was what Armitage _wanted_. He had never wanted anything so much in his entire life. 

“Will I have to fight Phasma for the title of First Mate?” he said with a small smirk.

Ren pursed his lips, feigning being deep in thought. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Even if you did have legs, she would take you down.”

“Not if I got to fight her on my turf.”

“She’s a good swimmer.”

“Not as good as me.”

“Still, she would take you down. No competition.”

Armitage frowned, which made Ren’s full lips curl into a small smile. “You’re so easy.”

Those lips… Armitage had never… but he wanted to. He _wanted_. So he did.

“Shut up,” he said before leaning in and claiming those lips with his own. In the early days of whatever this was, if either had tried something like this, the other would have surely jerked away. But not now, not here. 

Ren turned his head and opened his mouth. Armitage softly hummed at the feel of his tongue and placed a hand on his cheek. Ren’s fingers slid over the scales where they met soft flesh and he left his hand there. Armitage felt dizzy, his chest warm and his face hot. 

They broke for air, but didn’t go far; they rested their foreheads against one another and breathed in the sight of each other. They came together for another kiss, this time Ren guiding Armitage down to the sand so they could lay together. Armitage brought a hand down to slip under Ren’s loose white shirt; he kept the hand there, just feeling the steady beat under his skin. 

Ren pulled him closer, slipping the hand not on Armitage’s hip through damp ginger hair, his thumb gently brushing against Armitage’s temple. His fingers curled in the hair and he tugged a little. 

_Cheeky bastard._ Armitage nipped at Ren’s lower lip in retaliation. 

Ren rolled on top of him then, pinning his arms above his head. 

After a moment, Armitage whispered, “Well?”

“Are you with us?” Ren asked softly. 

Armitage pushed his head up as far as he could, attempting to snatch another kiss; Ren pulled back out of his reach. They stayed that way for a few seconds. Armitage knew what to say, but the wait was driving Ren crazy and, well, riling him up was just too good.

“Yes, Captain Ren,” he said at last, “I’m with you.”

“Fuckin’ finally,” Ren replied before leaning down to kiss Armitage’s grinning mouth. 

They remained there until the sun set. Eventually, they joined the rest of the crew down the beach to celebrate. This was not the life Armitage ever expected, but it was one he wanted, and he was eager to share it with these humans… especially one human in particular.

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: Recently wrote a companion piece to this called "Submerge," if you're interested in that darker take!


End file.
